Author:
Abstract
The purpose of this investigation is to analyze how 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th grade students consider the content of social studies. With this purpose in mind, a 21-item inventory with two sub-dimensions was designed. For validity and reliability analyses, it was implemented on 217 students in Sakarya. In accordance with the data obtained through the implementation, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted for construct validity. The inventory has a Cronbach’s Alpha value of 0.92 and accounts for 49.4% of the variance. The sub-dimensions were named “structure of the content” and “perception of the content”. The inventory was implemented on a total of 601 students- 297 being female and 304 being male- in Serdivan, Sakarya during the educational year 2010-2011. In the analysis process of the study, in order to determine the family income Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, for parents’educational status Kruskal Wallis H test, and in order to find out whether the students like and attach importance to social studies or not Mann-Whitney U test were applied. For the analysis of the data relevant to gender, one of the parametric tests, t- test was applied as a statistical method. The study concluded that primary school students strongly agree with the statements regarding the content of social studies. Their opinions do not differ significantly depending on gender, family income or mothers’ educational status. However, their opinions as to the structure of the content, perception of the content and the whole inventory differ significantly depending on grade level, fathers’ educational status and whether they like and attach importance to social studies or not. The data obtained through this study was discussed in the light of literature and suggestions for new investigations were included.
Keywords
Abstract
The purpose of this investigation is to analyze how 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th grade students consider the content of social studies. With this purpose in mind, a 21-item inventory with two sub-dimensions was designed. For validity and reliability analyses, it was implemented on 217 students in Sakarya. In accordance with the data obtained through the implementation, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted for construct validity. The inventory has a Cronbach’s Alpha value of 0.92 and accounts for 49.4% of the variance. The sub-dimensions were named “structure of the content” and “perception of the content”. The inventory was implemented on a total of 601 students- 297 being female and 304 being male- in Serdivan, Sakarya during the educational year 2010-2011. In the analysis process of the study, in order to determine the family income Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, for parents’educational status Kruskal Wallis H test, and in order to find out whether the students like and attach importance to social studies or not Mann-Whitney U test were applied. For the analysis of the data relevant to gender, one of the parametric tests, t- test was applied as a statistical method. The study concluded that primary school students strongly agree with the statements regarding the content of social studies. Their opinions do not differ significantly depending on gender, family income or mothers’ educational status. However, their opinions as to the structure of the content, perception of the content and the whole inventory differ significantly depending on grade level, fathers’ educational status and whether they like and attach importance to social studies or not. The data obtained through this study was discussed in the light of literature and suggestions for new investigations were included.